Police: Driver crashes during heroin overdose, flees hospital

MANSFIELD, Ohio -- Police were dispatched to the scene of a reported overdose around 2:45 p.m. Saturday and found a vehicle had crashed into a sign, with the driver unresponsive and turning blue.

It happened in the 600 block of South Diamond Street.

The vehicle was still in gear, running, when officers arrived.

The Mansfield Fire Department treated a 25-year-old Bellville man, who allegedly admitted to using heroin while driving.

Police reported finding a burned spoon and syringe in the vehicle.

A crash report said the driver was headed southeast on Diamond Street, crossed the center line toward oncoming traffic and went into the parking lot at Diamond Hills Baptist Church, striking a concrete parking lot stop and a "No truck turnaround" sign before the black Dodge Nitro he was driving came to rest.

The 25-year-old driver was taken to OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital for treatment, but when officers went there to speak to him, hospital staff said he had fled the area.

Police reports said charges of driving while under the influence and possessing drug abuse instruments and drug paraphernalia will be pursued through the law director's office.